Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has dismissed speculation about dissent within the Aam Aadmi Party's state unit, asserting that Congress leaders have a history of switching parties while AAP leaders remain dedicated. Mann's remarks came after Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa claimed that over 30 AAP MLAs were in touch with his party. Mann, however, dismissed Bajwa's claims, stating that Congress has a culture of switching sides. The meeting follows AAP's defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections, sparking speculation about instability in its Punjab unit. Mann reiterated the unity within AAP, highlighting his government's achievements, including closing 17 toll plazas, stopping multiple pensions for MLAs, and implementing the Delhi model in Punjab. On the promise of financial assistance of Rs 1,000 to women, he said it will be provided in the coming days. Meanwhile, the BJP has also intensified its attack on the AAP, with BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa taking a dig at Kejriwal for holding a meeting with Punjab MLAs despite AAP's defeat in Delhi.
'Win or lose, the BJP's Delhi unit is clearly in a mess. Its behaviour offers a textbook example in how not to approach an election.'
In the election held earlier in the year, the AAP lost the sole seat it contested and the Congress won five out of 10 seats.
Aam Aadmi Party workers on Wednesday fought pitched battles with Bharatiya Janata Party activists outside the saffron party headquarters in New Delhi hours after former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was detained briefly in Gujarat.
The Punjab chief minister said he was asked by Kejriwal to visit different places for campaigning for INDIA bloc candidates.
Ministers arrested post-2014 who, if the 130 Constitutional Amendment had been in effect, would have been unseated from office.
Describing Kothiyal as a true soldier, Kejriwal said the former Army officer is affectionately called 'Bhole Ka Fauji' by the locals in recognition of his work during the 2013 floods in Kedarnath.
After the Delhi mistake and the Lok Sabha setback, the Aam Aadmi Party looks to reinvent itself. Manavi Kapur and Somesh Jha deconstruct its game plan
Hitting back at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for making "false and defamatory" statements against him, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is slapping criminal and civil defamation cases against him and five other AAP leaders in Delhi courts on Monday.
Maliwal claimed that Kejriwal's aide hit her with "full force again and again" and she was "kicked and slapped seven to eight times".
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has won the maximum number of seats in Delhi polls, does not have the numbers for a simple majority in the assembly.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal is unlikely to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy, sources in the party said.
This is the third notice to Kejriwal, also the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, after he refused to appear before the federal agency on two earlier summons for November 2 and December 21.
With his three-week temporary bail for poll campaign ending, Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be back in Tihar Jail on Sunday as a court here put off till June 5 its order on his plea seeking interim bail on medical grounds.
Kejriwal was accompanied by his family and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
The Delhi Assembly elections saw BJP's Karnail Singh emerge as the richest winner with assets worth Rs 259 crore, Umang Bajaj at 31 as the youngest winner, Tilak Ram Gupta as the oldest contestant at 73, and AAP's Amanatullah Khan the candidate with the highest, 19, criminal cases. Several winning candidates have pending criminal cases, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms.
In a post on X in Hindi, Sunita said her husband got bail on June 20 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case and the Enforcement Directorate immediately got a stay.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday examined Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar Jail and recorded his statement related to the excise policy case.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi took charge as the eighth chief minister of Delhi on Monday and said she would work like Bharat did by keeping his elder brother Lord Ram's 'khadaun' (wooden slippers) on Ayodhya's throne.
'Delhi chief minister's residence' at 6, Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines was forcibly vacated at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party as Lt Governor V K Saxena wants to allot it to a saffron party leader, the Chief Minister's Office alleged in a statement on Wednesday.
Expressing solidarity with the protest against the gang-rape of a girl in New Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday sought immediate enactment of the Sexual Assault Bill either by bringing an ordinance or by convening a special session of Parliament.
Opposition leaders in Punjab have claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls signals the beginning of its downfall in the state as well. They cited the party's inability to deliver on promises and allegations of corruption as reasons for the setback in Delhi and predicted a similar fate for the AAP in Punjab, where it is currently in power.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on these quaint developments.
'There is no bar in law on a person continuing as chief minister once arrested'
Praying for those who lost their lives in the incident, Kejriwal said the assembly polls in Gujarat should be held immediately.
The AAP national convenor is out on an interim bail till June 1. He has to surrender on June 2.
Many senior AAP leaders, including Delhi assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Deputy Speaker Rakhi Bila, ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain attended the day-long 'Samuhik Upwas' at Jantar Mantar in the national capital from 11 am.
The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested a 33-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly for allegedly drawing anti-Arvind Kejriwal graffiti at stations of Delhi Metro and inside its coaches, an officer said.
'Till the BJP does not understand Kejriwal they cannot win Delhi.'
The apex court registry refused to accept the application, saying since Kejriwal was given liberty to move the trial court for regular bail, the plea is not maintainable.
Before surrendering, Kejriwal paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat, offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place and addressed Aam Aadmi Party leaders and workers at the party office.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the Aam Aadmi Party's victory in the Punjab election and Arvind Kejriwal's aspirations to go National.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj has said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita is the best person to keep the party together in the prevailing circumstances and asserted that her presence has had a 'positive effect' on the cadre.
Raut said a Congress-AAP alliance would have crushed the BJP in Delhi assembly polls, as counting trends show the Arvind Kejriwal-led party losing many seats amid the saffron surge.
Kejriwal batted for positive politics in the country to ensure that India becomes number one country in the world
These civic body bypolls were a litmus test for the BJP, as they were its first big electoral battle after coming to power in Delhi in February this year.
Exuding confidence, Kejriwal said, "Our government will be formed in Gujarat in 2027."
When asked what transpired at the informal meeting of the alliance leaders in the evening, the Delhi chief minister said his party sought seat-sharing discussions for all the states.
Glimpses from the Great Election Carnival on Sunday, April 21, 2024
The AAP said that the ED should wait for the court's decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses to Kejriwal.
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